Chained to your side
by Misura
Summary: Seto and Joey get handcuffed together and Bakura is the only one with a key. [major silly shounen ai]
1. One

Chained to your side

*

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, hints at Malik/Marik, Yami/Yugi and Bakura/Ryou, handcuffs, (suggestive and/or bad) language.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 4th july 2003, by Misura, on a sugar-high. ^^; 

**********

"Your hikari is such a wussy!" Marik remarked to Bakura. "Handcuffs ... those are for amateurs! Hmph, I'm glad mine isn't so shy."

"Then again, not all of us enjoy being tied up by our own hikaris." Yami smirked.

Marik blushed slightly, while Bakura chuckled.

"Still, I *paid* for these things! All for nothing." The white-haired yami stared sadly at the pair of dangling handcuffs

"With money you'd stolen fair and square I suppose." Yami snorted.

"Not that it's any of your business, Pharaoh, but not everyone is as lazy and utterly opposed to the idea of work as you are." Bakura hissed.

"Somebody actually trusted your face enough to offer you a job?" Yami asked incredulously.

"I delivered newspapers. And what's wrong with my face?" Bakura frowned. "It's the same as Ryou's so if you insult mine, you insult his too. So you'd better watch your tongue if you want to keep it where it is right now, Pharaoh!"

"Ra! That hikari of yours has a bad influence on you, Bakura! What are you going to do next ; swear off all alcohol and sex for the rest of your life?" Marik rolled his eyes.

"Don't talk so stupid, Marik! Of course not!" Bakura growled.

"Especially the 'no more sex'-part seems highly unlikely with Ryou around." Yami grinned.

Bakura was not amused. "Lay one finger on him and I'll - "

"Oh come on, Bakura!" Marik interrupted him. "We all know his hikari's his everything."

"Like you two are any different." Yami retorted sharply.

"Maybe not." Marik admitted. "But *we* don't let it show all the time."

"You're simply too fond of attention, Pharaoh. You want an audience, even when you're kissing someone." Bakura added.

Yami narrowed his eyes, staring at something -or someone- over Marik's shoulder. Bakura followed his gaze, seeing a familiar blond leaning against a wall. He looked annoyed and a little flustered. Apparently he hadn't noticed the three yamis yet.

"I give him ten seconds." Yami said cryptically.

"Who? For what?" Marik inquired, confused.

[eight seconds later]

"So here are you hiding, puppy. That scared of me that you run out on me in the middle of an argument with your tail between your legs now?" Seto sneered.

Marik grinned and turned around to enjoy the show, while Yami sighed and Bakura got a pensive expression on his face.

"I'm not afraid of anything or anyone, Kaiba!" Joey spat. "Least of all you!"

To prove his point, Joey began to walk in the direction of the brunet, his hands clenched into fists even though the two of them never came to any physical blows.

Seto remained where he was, a smug look on his face.

Joey didn't see who, but someone tripped him, sending him crashing headfirst into Seto, causing them both to fall on the ground. 

"Perfect ... " Bakura murmured, darting forwards.

*click* *click*

"What ... "

"Who ... "

"BAKURA!"

"Hehehehe." Bakura grinned at Marik, the only one not yelling or glaring at him. "I *knew* I'd find something useful to use them for. What do you think?"

"I think you're in deep trouble." Marik replied, wincing as Joey let out a particular vicious howl.

"Only if they get loose." Bakura beat the dust off his clothes and walked back to his seat. "And the only way to do that is by getting the key. The key that's in *my* possession."

Marik whistled appreciatively, raising his glass of cola in a congratulatory toast. Bakura grabbed for his own drink, only to be grabbed by an outraged Pharaoh instead.

"What do *you* want?" Bakura hissed, fruitlessly trying to get Yami to release his hold on him.

"The key, right now." Yami snarled. "I didn't let that Dice Guy humiliate Joey and I won't let you do it either. You're sick."

"Coming from you, that's a compliment, you know." Marik remarked.

"Mine, Ra damn you!" Bakura hissed. "Why do you always have to stick your nose in other people's business? Can't you for once sit back and enjoy the show?"

"I find no 'joy' in this. Now, the key. Or I'll have to tell Ryou his yami regretfully had a little accident. Do I make myself clear?" Yami voice was not even raised, yet it was audible all through the room. Even Seto shivered briefly, before going back to pulling at his cuff.

"Prick!" Bakura muttered. "Spoilsport!"

"You'd better give him the key before he uses Mindcrush. Not that I'd mind, of course. Might even be fun to go comfort Ryou and everything." Marik said sweetly.

"Oh, all right then." Bakura's hand disappeared into his pocket, only to come up empty again. "I don't have it with me right now." He sounded pleased, but surprised. "Sorry, Pharaoh. Seems your doggy friend will have to stay on the leash a little longer."

Red eyes hardened. "You go get that key. I will wait for you. And if you're late ... "

Bakura snorted, stumbling back when Yami shoved him away. "You really have a flair for the melodramatic. Ever considering taking to the stage?"

"Tomb-robber ... " There was a deaththreat in that single word.

"All right, all right, chill out. I'll go get it. You just keep these two from killing eachother, okay? I'll be right back." Bakura disappeared quickly.

"And you two, behave!" Yami turned his stern gaze on Joey and Seto, who were eyeing eachother with barely hidden hostility. 

"Who do you think you are, ordering me around like that?" Seto demanded, more than willing to direct his anger at another target than Joey alone.

"Yeah, Yami. I can handle him." Joey added. "I don't need you to protect me or something!"

"Hmmm, seems like they actually *are* capable of agreeing on something after all. How amazing!" Marik sighed, sipping from Bakura's drink, since his own was long gone.

~tbc?~

A/N : I just found this sitting around in my 'First chapters that might get a second one day'–folder so I thought I might as well post it and see if people would actually *want* that second chapter. ^^;


	2. Two

Chained to your side

**

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, hints at Malik/Marik, Yami/Yugi and Bakura/Ryou, handcuffs, (suggestive and/or bad) language, oocness.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 17th march 2003, by Misura

A very, very big 'thank you!!!!' to everyone who reviewed the first chapter and encouraged me to continue. I hope you'll all also enjoy this second chapter. ^_^

**********

All things considered, it wasn't a very happy Bakura who walked up to the door of the apartment he shared with Ryou. It was bad enough that Yami still had his special powers, while Bakura's had practically vanished when he got a body of his own. Only the mindlink with Ryou had stayed, allowing him to read his hikari's mind every now and then, if Ryou didn't mind him doing so or was too distracted to keep him out.

"That annoying Pharaoh! Daring to threaten me with his stupid Mindcrush, knowing full well *I* don't have the ability to defend myself against things like that anymore. And that traitor Marik ... all smiles while talking about my Ryou like ... "

He reached for the the door-handle, fully expecting the door to be unlocked. It was, after all, on the middle of the day and Ryou *knew* Bakura never wore any keys on him. (At least, not for very long. They always tended to mysteriously disappear within a few days, which Bakura blamed on Yami misusing his Shadow Powers to pester him. Of course he never 'lost' them.)

Unfortunately, the door seemed not to know it was supposed to allow Bakura to enter. Instead, it remained firmly shut, obliging Bakura to ring the doorbell, as if he was some ordinary visitor and not one of the two inhabitants.

Normally, Bakura would have thought this 'misfortune' to be Yami's fault, but considering he only was here because Yami had humbly begged him to go, a plea which he had magnanimously agreed to fulfill, that wasn't too likely.

"RYOU!" What was going on? Why wasn't Ryou opening the door for him? Wasn't he at home?

Something hit his head, falling to the ground at his feet with a soft thud. A key. Or rather, *the* key. Thoroughly puzzled now, Bakura opened the door and walked in.

*****

By some sort of miracle, they had managed to get up. It might have been the fact that they had gotten quite an audience, considering neither of them was too fond of attention. At least, not when they were in an embarrassing position as their current one.

They were very careful not to look at each other, instead glaring at the people surrounding them, as if to order them to go away.

"Aren't they cute?" Marik gushed to Malik, eyeing Seto and Joey as if he was in the zoo, watching two particularly fluffy animals.

Malik sniggered. "Very. So ... *protective* of each other. Typical of two mates."

If looks had been able to kill, there would have been one dead Egyptian and one vanished spirit on the floor of the cafetaria. 

"Marik, Malik, stop pestering Joey," Yami ordered sharply.

"Awww, and what is little Yami-kins going to do if we don't?" Malik inquired.

"Yami isn't short!" Yugi snapped, sending his version of a glare in Malik's direction.

"Not compared to you, no," Marik smirked.

"Don't you *dare* insult my hikari, Marik!" Yami's glare was a lot more impressive than Yugi's. Not that it was any more effective in shutting the two blondes up.

*

"I count to three and at 'three' we make a run for the exit," Seto whispered.

Joey opened his mouth to snarl that he wasn't some dog to be ordered around, then reconsidered and nodded slightly. "Sounds like a plan. I'm with you."

"Unfortunately," Seto murmured. 

*****

"Ryou? What's going on?" Bakura wandered through the rooms downstairs, all strangely empty of any signs of his hikari's presence. He was beginning to get a little worried.

/I'm upstairs/

As soon as Ryou had relayed this message, their Mindlink was shut down again, leaving Bakura none the wiser about the 'why' of all this.

He might have comforted himself with the assurance that Ryou was at least home and apparently well enough to be able to talk, but Bakura's imagination was perfectly capable of coming up with at least a dozen scenarios that accomplished that feat while still leaving Ryou a wreck, unable to cook, clean, wash the dishes and do all those other things Bakura needed him for.

Rushing up the stairs, he stormed to Ryou's bedroom, sure that he would find his hikari lying there in bed, pale and ill. 

He was half right.

"Good afternoon, yami." Ryou smiled. He was looking like innocence personified, the blankets tucked around him, leaving only his face uncovered. His long white hair was slightly ruffled as if he had just woken up. Inasfar as Bakura could see, he was perfectly healthy.

"Why are you in bed?" Bakura inquired curiously, somewhat less on edge now that Ryou seemed to be merely in a bit of a weird mood instead of near death.

"Because I was sleepy?" Ryou proposed, in a tone that suggested Bakura's question was less than intelligent.

"But it's only four hours past the middle of the day!" Bakura objected, preferring not to respond to Ryou's insult. "You can't be tired already."

"Who said I was tired?" Ryou rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You did. You said you went to bed because you were sleepy!" Bakura replied, mirroring Ryou's gesture.

"You can be so daft, yami." Ryou sighed. "Ah well, I guess actions speak louder than words." He pulled down the blankets, revealing what he was wearing underneath them. Which wasn't all that much, really.

There was a soft 'thump' of a body hitting the floor.

"I don't believe this. Why me?" Ryou moaned, burying his face in the blankets. "Why did *I* have to get the one yami who thinks me giving him a pair of handcuffs means I want him to join the police-force? Why did *I* have to get a yami who nosebleeds when I take off my shirt? Why? Someone up there must hate me."

~tbc~

A/N : I think that'll be the last we'll see of Bakura and Ryou in this fic for a while. ^^;


	3. Three

Chained to your side

---

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, hints at Malik/Marik, Yami/Yugi and Bakura/Ryou, handcuffs, (suggestive and/or bad) language, oocness.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 4th april 2003, by Misura

Another very big 'thank you!' to the people who reviewed the second chapter. It took me … really long to write and post this, for which I apologize. I can't promise the next chapter will be out any sooner, but I'll do my best. –blushes guiltily and smiles-

Note : a 'baka' is an idiot.

----------

"The key!" Joey shot upright, nearly causing Seto to delete the report he had been working on for days. The two of them were sitting in Seto's limousine, after having successfully made their escape from the cafeteria.

"Could you keep your canine instincts in check a little?" Seto inquired annoyedly, quickly saving his vital files in case Joey would react to his question by more sudden movements.

"But, Kaiba, you moron! You forgot about the key!" True to Seto's fears -well, more like expectations, really, though he wasn't too pleased with Joey living up to them- Joey accompanied his words by emphatic gestures.

"I never forget about anything," Seto replied calmly. "But perhaps you'd care to explain how you reached the ... interesting conclusion that my intelligence was no higher than yours."

Normally, Seto'd have enjoyed to come back at Joey for calling him a 'moron' but considering the amount of breakable and valuable items that were lying around, not to mention the car itself, he thought it might be better to postpone his revenge a little.

Putting a mutt back in its place wasn't worth having his laptop getting damaged and losing vital information about Kaiba Corp's latest research-projects.

"Bakura was going to get the key to these blasted things!" Joey raised his cuffed wrist, pulling Seto's along. "And we ran away! How could we have been so stupid?" Joey dropped his arm to bury his face in his hands, moaning.

"Firstly, I did not propose our escape because of the key. I proposed it because we were being regarded as a curiosity and because people were insulting my dignity. You, as a dog, have no idea of what 'dignity' is, of course, but I assume even -you- are smart enough not to enjoy being laughed at." Seto smirked as Joey made a soft growling sound.

"Secondly, a key is not the only way to get rid of a set of handcuffs. Even you ought to know that I would never go to a meeting with you chained to my side. Therefore, by applying the slightest bit of logic, you could have known I had an alternative manner of separation in mind."

Joey rolled his eyes. "So, in short, you're saying that you think you can get rid of these without needing Bakura's key or owing anything to Yami."

Seto frowned. "I'm not just -thinking- that. I -know- it. And Yami has got nothing to do with it!"

"Not if you get it your way, no." Joey grinned, leaning back with a triumphant expression on his face, as if he had solved a complicated puzzle. Seto had no idea why, but he was satisfied with the blonde sitting reasonably quiet.

"Whatever, mutt," Seto muttered, returning his attention to his report.

"Say, Kaiba, now that you are in such a nice mood and all, can I ask you something else?" Joey gazed at Seto in a way that reminded him of a poor, hungry puppy Mokuba had pointed out to him at the petshop once.

Shutting his laptop down and closing it with a soft click, Seto gifted Joey with his full attention. Not that he expected the mutt to appreciate him wasting his precious time on him.

"Since I probably won't be able to do any work with you barking and whining at me, why not? As long as you keep in mind that an answer to your question is an option and not a right."

Joey stiffened, his eyes angry. "Can't you cut that nonsense about dogs? It's getting really, really old and I'm sick and tired of it."

"Is that the question that's been burning on your lips? How ... disappointing." Seto laughed in silence. The mutt was simply so easy to bait, never failing to react. "But since you asked ... no, I am currently not inclined to stop calling you what you are."

"I'm not a dog!" Joey snapped.

"You act like one," Seto pointed out smugly.

"Only because you - " Joey began, before falling silent.

"Only because of me? Was that what you were going to say? Well, that is no more than fitting, is it? Considering I am your undisputed master ... " The expression on Joey's face was worth not having finished that report before the meeting. More than worth it.

"-I- dispute it!" Joey balled his hands into fists. Under the present circumstances, Seto was inclined to consider it a sign of helplessness rather than agression.

"But you're not my equal, so you don't have the right to. You're merely - " Seto had been about to say 'playing hard to get' only on second thought, that sounded a little ... suggestive. Like he was -interested- in the mutt in any romantic sense. Which he wasn't. " - trying your bonds."

Joey sent him a last 'glare' (that, in Seto's opinion, wouldn't even scare a puppy) before chuckling. Apparently the mutt had decided to try to act like Seto wasn't getting to him.

"You -are- an odd one, Kaiba. But anyway, what I actually wanted to ask was : how long wil it be till we're wherever it is we're going and will they have any decent food there? I'm kind of hungry, especially since I missed lunch thanks to Baku-baka."

"That are two questions," Seto observed. "I thought you said you had only one."

Oh, yes, -definitely- too easy to bait. Joey growled, living up just perfectly to his nicknames. Seto grinned, ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that reminded him that he had wanted Joey to remain calm to prevent the mutt from disrupting his work.

Joey's presence would be a distraction anyway, no matter how 'good' the blonde might be.

"Forget it. I give up. You're simply too much of a jerk to give me a -normal- answer to anything I ask," Joey muttered, making another attempt at a glare.

Seto decided Joey's glares made the blonde look like he was pouting. He might have described the expression as 'cute', except that, well, he already used that word to describe Mokuba's pouts. And, of course, Seto'd never use any kind of endearing words in relation to Joey.

"We will arrive at the headquarters of Kaiba Corp. within fifteen minutes. Should you feel that you will faint without some sort of nutrition, I am sure that it would be possible to arrange for something. Most of my employees don't have anything to do with their time anyway," Seto declared.

Joey looked slightly puzzled. The blonde was probably trying to figure out whether or not Seto had just insulted him. Seto carefully kept his expression neutral.

"You could have said that right away," Joey commented finally.

Seto managed not to reply that that would have been a whole lot less fun. Though it wasn't easy.

-----

"You let them get away!" Malik said accusingly to Yami.

"Maybe they would have been less inclined to run, if you hadn't acted like they were chained together solely for your entertainment," Yami snapped back, frowning. Yugi concluded his other half was probably more worried about Joey than angry with Malik for his offending attitude.

"And what would -you- know about the Tombrobber's reasons for doing anything, Pharaoh?" Marik riposted. "Is something going on here which maybe Yugi ought to know about?"

"What? That notion is too ridiculous to even answer," Yami burst out.

"It was just a -rational- explanation for your apparently superior knowledge about the motivations about a person whom you supposedly always hated," Marik defended himself, trying to sound like the sweet voice of reason, but not quite pulling it off.

"You and the Tombrobber at times do remind me of Kaiba and Joey," Malik mused aloud.

"Get out now, before I commit an act we're both going to regret. Though the two of you a little more than me, I'm sure," Yami spoke very softly. Malik gulped, while Marik looked unimpressed.

(tbc in all likeliness)


	4. Four

Chained to your side

xxxx

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, hints at Malik/Marik, Yami/Yugi and Bakura/Ryou, handcuffs, (suggestive and/or bad) language, oocness.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 17th may 2003, by Misura

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Of course, I'm not afraid of Yami," Malik began.

Marik grumbled something.

"His puny threats wouldn't even scare a ... a -Ryou-," Malik continued, pleased to have found a suitable example of, well, utter push-overness.

Marik 'hm'ed.

"I could take him on any day," Malik declared confidently. "Especially with you by my side."

"So ... why aren't you telling him that right now, instead of running away like a scared little ... Ryou-bunny?" Marik inquired.

"I'm not running!" Malik protested, slowing down to a nice jogging speed.

Marik produced a quite eloquent silence.

"I was simply getting ... -bored-. Yes, that's it. I got bored, so I left." Malik nodded emphatically.

"To go where?" Marik asked, apparently willing to let Malik get off the hook easily.

"Well ... " Malik had to think about this for a while. "We could go see how Bakura's doing. Maybe molest Ryou a bit, just for fun."

"Steal the key and see if we can make Yami beg for it. Or Kaiba," Marik proposed.

"Not -Kaiba-!" Malik shivered. "Kaiba's scary. But yes, getting Yami on his knees would be fun."

Marik eyed him puzzledly for a few seconds, then decided he liked the mental image of Yami begging him for something better anyway.

xxxxx

There was no reason at all for Mokuba not to be at the Kaiba-mansion, doing his homework and waiting for Seto to come home. And there was nothing at all that could possibly interest Mokuba at the meeting that his big brother was hosting in his office today.

Thus, when Seto was tackled by something Mokuba-shaped that was yelling 'wheeeeeeeee!' at the top of its lungs upon entering Kaiba Corp.'s Headquarters, his brains first needed a few seconds to go through the matters of Mokuba's unexpected presence, Mokuba's apparent gain in weight and Mokuba's obvious sugar-high, before even -remembering- he might want to explain the handcuffs.

A delay that proved fatal, since Mokuba's brains had gone in overdrive the moment he'd seen Joey following Seto out of the limousine.

Seto might still have saved himself though, if it hadn't been for a certain well-intending security-guard, who'd get fired the next day for his intervention. The man had apparently not worked at Kaiba Corp. long enough to be familiar with Mokuba, and asked the innocent question: "Mr. Kaiba, are you all right?", while holding out a hand to help Seto get up from his position on the floor.

Acting purely on instinct, Seto lifted his hand. Not to accept the man's offer of assistance, of course, since Seto Kaiba didn't need anyone's help ever, but rather to shoo the man away with a pointed gesture and a few well-chosen words.

Unfortunately, this movement revealed the handcuffs quite clearly to everyone in the hall.

An awkward silence fell, shattered abruptly by Mokuba yelling 'wheeee!' again.

"I -knew- the two of you'd get together!" Mokuba declared triumphantly.

"We're -not- - " Joey began, apparently having caught on to the situation.

"He's -not- - " Seto sputtered at the same time, then glared at Joey for speaking out of line and making it impossible for other people to hear Seto's announcement that he and Joey were not, in any way, together, aside from physically, which was much more important than any nonsense Joey had wanted to spout.

"My big brother's going to get married!" Mokuba beamed.

Dozens of gazes were turned in Seto's direction, while the hall was slowly filled with people who'd heard Mokuba's exclamation and wanted to see what was going on.

Seto sternly told himself that now would be a really bad time to faint. Or to try to throttle Mokuba, though only because being handcuffed to Joey would hinder him too much to do a proper job of it.

"He's gotten himself handcuffed to Joey, because he can't stand to be one second without him anymore," Mokuba explained to a nearby secretary. His voice was still loud enough to be heard throughout the hall, even if at least Seto's ears weren't hurting anymore.

Several women swooned at Mokuba's creative interpretation of the situation. A few of them ran out of the hall sobbing, Seto noted with a certain smug satisfaction. At least his relationship with Joey was good for -something-; his female employers would be a lot less likely to pester him with their romantic proposals now.

Seto blinked, then frowned. He was -not- in any relationship with Joey. He would never be in one either. Mokuba and the stress of this day were obviously getting to him and making him unable to think straight.

"Mokuba ... " Seto started, aiming for 'dark and menacing'.

"Oh. I'm so sorry for ruining the suprise. You wanted to tell everyone yourself, didn't you? I'm such a bad little brother to you ... " Mokuba's lower lip trembled, as his eyes became teary.

Seto was 100 percentpositivelysure thatMokuba was faking it. If Mokuba thought Seto was going to fall for a cheap trick like that, he was making a very big mistake.

"You must hate me now!" Mokuba cried.

Seto twitched. Joey was staring at him with an expression on his face that said 'shouldn't you be doing something about this?', which was utterly unhelpful and precisely what Seto could have expected.

"I don't hate you," Seto sighed, admitting defeat. For the moment.

Mokuba's expression brightened.

"I -would- like some privacy though. And I'm -not- paying you people to stand gawking at me. Get back to work everyone!" Seto somehow managed to look down on every person in the hall.

Seto briefly toyed with the thought to add a pronouncement that he was -not- getting married to Joey, or anyone else for that matter, but he decided a memo might be more suitable for that. A memo would also allow him to list some of the things he'd do to people who spoke to another living being about having seen Seto Kaiba handcuffed to Joey Wheeler.

Pleased with having found such a perfect solution, Seto dragged Joey along to his personal office, paying little to no attention to Mokuba who kept chattering on about weddingcakes. He'd simply pretend nothing had happened. Tomorrow, everything would be back to normal.

After all, nobody had any -proof-.

Now he only needed to find someone capable of getting these handcuffs off of him, and then this whole unpleasant episode could be safely forgotten.

tbc ... at some point in the future

A/N: Whoa. I really did write this a long time ago, but ... I'm half-tempted to try and write another chapter for it. Ahem.


End file.
